The Special Summer Course which lasts for a week, focuses on a selected topic which varies from one year to another so long as the topic is of importance and relevance to dialogue and peace. This topic becomes the discussion thrust for the duration of the course. Usually a survey is carried out to check respondents' ideas and opinions on the topic which is the focus of the Special Course. The results of the survey are then reported to the participants at the beginning of the course.

The Intensive Summer Course,is a week-long course is design which covers essentially the same topics as the month-long course does but requiring lectures in the evening as well ; the exposure experience is not included in this week-long course. To distinguish between the two, the month-long course is referred to as the Basic Course while the shorter one is the Intensive Course.